A rise in the number of Canadians using food banks is more proof that the carbon tax needs to go.
That from Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant.
When told that usage of the Madawaska Valley Food Bank is at record levels, she expressed worry that food bank usage across Canada, overall, is high.
A Food Banks Canada report says that in March of 2023, there were almost 2 million visits to food banks across the country, representing a 32 per cent increase compared to March 2022.
Gallant believes the spike is because companies at every stage in the food-supply chain are paying the tax, which is driving up food prices.
“You go to the grocery store and that food got there because somebody trucked it there,” she says. “That food got to wherever it was trucked from, from someone who brought it there from a processing plant.”
Gallant says the tax is only making it more difficult for people to pay expenses and not meeting its intended goal of reducing emissions.
“The carbon tax is not an environmental plan; it’s a tax plan,” she says.
While the Conservatives are calling for the carbon tax to end, the ruling Liberals are vowing to continue with it, saying it’s an important policy to fight climate change.